While there a number of prior art dental mirrors having means for sucking up the mucous, blood, water, particulate, saliva and the like, as well as means for rinsing the mouth area, these prior art devices are either expensive, inefficient and/or are cumbersome to operate. Examples of these types of dental mirrors are disclosed in Warriner U.S. Pat. No. 3,102,338, Hannson U.S. Pat. No. 3,928,916, Katz U.S. Pat. No. 2,861,342 and Berlin U.S. Pat. No. 4,925,391. The Berlin patent, supra, for example, discloses a shaft and mirror combination that includes internal passages extending from the edge of the mirror to the top end of the shaft which includes coupling means for connecting the mirror/shaft combination to a suction source. The edge of the housing of the dental mirror that supports the mirror itself contains a plurality of apertures that are in communication with the interior of the mouth. One of the problems associated with this construction is that these passages are subject to closure if a particle of material, such as metal filling, used by the dentist clogs the aperture or if the dentist allows the edge to touch the walls of the mouth cavity, gums, teeth and the like.
Another class of prior art dental mirrors is concerned with including a light at the mirror itself and the passage means in the handle of the dental mirror for carrying fiber optics or the like from the source of energy to the distal end of the mirror. A number of these prior art devices also include means for conducting fluid to the mirror through the handle for defogging and cleaning the mirror surface. Examples of this class of dental mirrors are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,279,594 granted to Rigutto and 4,629,425 granted to Detsch.
This invention is primarily concerned with the efficiency of the aspirator means in the dental mirror and the construction thereof by including a generally substantially annularly shaped aperture at the edge of the mirror support that communicates with internal passage formed in the mirror handle. In one embodiment the cross sectional area of the annular aperture that forms the inlet port is varied to provide effectual suction capabilities notwithstanding the situation where a portion of the annular aperture may be blocked by an occasional touching of the interior of the mouth. In another embodiment it is contemplated that this invention will incorporate aerodynamically clean vanes or struts for supporting the back plate to the front plate of the mirror support.
Also, this invention contemplates a simplified and economical construction of the dental mirror.